On October 9, 2009, then United States President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” While the award was given to Obama over eight months after he was inaugurated, nominations for the prize were closed a mere 11 days after he took the oath of office.

In essence, Obama was bestowed this prestigious award for merely the hope he represented as President of the United States. At no time during his presidency, did Obama accomplish any great achievements for peace, nor did he broker any historic agreements between adversaries.

Unlike Jimmy Carter, who brokered the historic Camp David Accords and was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Obama was a complete failure in the Middle East. While he supported the highly touted “Arab Spring” movement, in actuality, it resulted in chaos in Libya and a terrorist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, taking control in Egypt. Obama refused to support a democratic uprising in Iran and removed U.S. troops from Iraq, creating a vacuum for ISIS, the vicious terrorist organization, to control large swaths of both Iraq and Syria.

Obama’s apology tour did not lead to peace, but it emboldened Islamic terror organizations. He also totally failed to restrain Vladimir Putin, who invaded Crimea and sent Russian troops into both Ukraine and Syria.

The Nobel Committee made a terrible mistake in giving such an honor to a President with such scant achievements. They also revealed their politically correct support of the climate change movement by giving Al Gore their peace prize in 2007. Gore has made millions of dollars promoting a highly disputed theory, while doing almost nothing to achieve world peace.

Unlike Obama and Gore, current United States Donald Trump is on the brink of brokering a major peace accord with North Korea. He is planning a summit with the country’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, in June. Our newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid the groundwork for the summit with a secret visit to meet with Kim Jong Un over the Easter weekend.

The potential for peace in North Korea is very significant. This country has been an outlaw regime since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Successive United States Presidents have been unable to stop the country’s march toward nuclear weapons.

Upon taking office, Trump immediately launched into a barrage of criticism directed at the North Korean dictator, labeling him “Rocket Man.” Trump also sent an array of our naval forces into the area in a show of strength.

While taking tough, Trump also extended the hand of cooperation toward North Korea. Incredibly, those tactics seems to be paying massive dividends. Today, Kim Jong Un met with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, and crossed the border. This marked the first time since 1953 that a North Korean leader stepped foot in South Korea.

The historic summit between the two leaders was marked by smiles, handshakes and even a hug. Already, North Korea has stopped the testing of nuclear weapons. If the Korean peninsula becomes a nuclear free zone, it would be not only a breakthrough for the region, but for all of humanity.

If this occurs, the Nobel Committee should start engraving Donald Trump’s name on their next peace prize. Any other decision would be an even great outrage than awarding the prize to a President who had been in office for less than two weeks and clearly did not deserve such an accolade.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at [email protected]

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m.weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at [email protected]